Cheers to the E.U.
The week's news at a glance.
Dublin
Irish voters this week gave the European Union permission to expand eastward to include former Soviet-bloc nations. Two years ago, the other 14 E.U. nations approved a treaty that would allow it to admit Eastern European nations such as Poland, Latvia, and Hungary. Due to a quirk in its constitution, Ireland was the only European nation that required a popular vote to approve the agreement. The Irish defeated the treaty in a desultory, low-turnout vote last year, embarrassing the government. So this year the prime minister spearheaded a major pro-treaty campaign, and it won in a landslide. “The Irish people just made about 100 million friends in Central and Eastern Europe,” said one Latvian diplomat. Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller raised a pint of Guinness and sang, “I love you, Ireland!”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
September 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful north
The Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts